Fires and smoke around Lake Baikal, Russia

Fires surrounding Lake Baikal in southeastern Russia continue to burn largely out of control on May 30, 2003. This true-color Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) from the Aqua satellite shows active fires marked with red dots all around the lake. Huge, dark burn scars mark the forests in the region, and smoke streams across Mongolia (below left) and China (right).